Poll: Public fears about troubled economy growing
As the economy continues to struggle, the public is growing increasingly concerned about losing jobs, not having enough 
money to pay the bills and seeing their retirement accounts shrink, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll.
Nearly half of those surveyed said they worry about becoming unemployed — almost double the percentage at this time last year.
The poll released Wednesday also found public support dipped slightly in the past month for the $787 billion package of tax cuts and government spending President Barack Obama signed into law this week on the promise that it will save or create 3.5 million jobs and re-ignite the economy.
“I lost a job myself,” said Edd Winkler, 40, a married attorney and father of two in Grand Rapids, Mich. “There were just too many attorneys for the amount of work we had coming in to the firm at that time.” Winkler has opened his own practice, and says most of his work involves bankruptcies.
“I know a lot of other people who have lost jobs,” he added.
Mariann Lewis, 55, of Stewartstown, Pa., says she was laid off this month from her job in a grocery store’s deli department.
“It’s pretty sad when a food store lays people off,” said Lewis, who is married. “It’s not like people are going to stop buying food.”
Lewis said she didn’t work there long enough to qualify for unemployment, and her family has begun using credit cards to pay for expenses, including a relative’s funeral. “We went through all of our savings,” she said.
Winkler and Lewis are among those who are increasingly worried about their personal economic circumstances, according to the poll.
Nearly half of those questioned, 47 percent, worry at least somewhat about losing a job, up from 28 percent in February 2008. Nearly three-fourths, or 71 percent, say they know someone — a friend or a relative — who has lost a job in the past six months because of the economy.
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